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Grand Duke
The Grand Duke is a supporting character in Cinderella, a minor character in its first sequel and a major character in its second sequel. His most striking quality is that he is extremely clumsy and usually calm, a direct foil to the King's romanticism and passionate temper. He is also rather nervous - likely due to the King's temper being taken out on him so frequently - but not depicted as cowardly. He feels that love at first sight only exists in fairy-tales, and points out to the King that the glass slipper which Prince Charming finds could fit any number of girls. He is extremely loyal to the King, despite showing fear of his threats when things go wrong. The Grand Duke is the fourth most powerful authority figure in the kingdom after the King, Prince Charming and Princess Cinderella, as he is the King's advisor, and he also has authority over the guards and palace servants, and it is his job to keep the peace and order within the kingdom and the castle. At the King's orders, he competently and perfectly arranges the ball to welcome Prince Charming home and find him a wife. Appearances Cinderella The Grand Duke is first shown with the King, who misses the sound of children running around the castle, and wishes to see grandchildren before he passes away. He tries to figure out how to find his son, Prince Charming, a wife. He comes up with the idea of throwing a ball at his castle and orders the Grand Duke to arrange the ball to celebrate the Prince's return home and to find him a wife. The Grand Duke finds the King's ideas of love at first sight charming but unrealistic, and when he sees Prince Charming finding himself only bored by the women attending the ball, chastises the King gently, telling the king that his romantic ideas of the Prince suddenly seeing a strange lady and falling in love with her, at first sight, were a story seen only in fairy tales (made especially ironic by the fact that the story of Cinderella is itself a fairy tale). But even as he does so, Prince Charming sees Cinderella and is fascinated by her appearance. The Grand Duke seems taken with Cinderella as well and figures that if the Prince has fallen for this maiden he will do his superior's bidding to make it run smoothly. The King then orders the Grand Duke to ensure that Cinderella and Prince Charming have a perfect evening, undisturbed and away from any crowds, which he competently arranges by closing the curtains to let the two have a private time together. However, when the clock strikes midnight, Cinderella rushes off and the Grand Duke begs her to stay there. When this fails, he orders guards to try to stop her. He is unsuccessful but is able to collect the glass slipper she has left behind. The Grand Duke is also ready to handle bad news, having to interrupt the King's merriment by telling him the girl with whom Prince Charming has spent the evening has disappeared. As expected, the King becomes enraged, accusing the Grand Duke of conspiring with the Prince to get out of marriage. As the King attempts to kill the Duke out of fury, the Duke dodges whilst explaining that the young woman has left behind the slipper, and the Prince will not rest until she is found, as he is determined to marry none but the one who fits the slipper, finally satiating the King's rage. The Duke then points out sensibly to the King that the slipper may fit any number of ladies' feet, but the King simply points out that that is the Prince's problem. He then orders the Duke to find the lady who fits the slipper, to which the Grand Duke says he will have every single woman in the kingdom try it on until a match is found. The next morning, after a long night of searching, the Grand Duke, accompanied by the Herald, arrives at the home of Lady Tremaine. After trying the slipper on Anastasia and Drizella (who both try their hardest to get it on), he is about to leave, but then Cinderella appears. Ignoring Lady Tremaine's insistence that Cinderella is only a serving girl and could not possibly have been at the ball (though she is sure that she did), the Grand Duke orders Tremaine to step aside so that he can try the slipper on Cinderella, as his orders were every maiden. He calls to the Herald to deliver the slipper, but Lady Tremaine trips the latter, causing the slipper to fly and shatter into pieces in front of the Duke and Cinderella. This makes the Duke feel horrified and terrified about the King's reaction. Cinderella, however, reveals that she has the broken slipper's match, and the Grand Duke is overjoyed to the point that he kisses the slipper with profound relief. He slides the slipper onto her foot and finds that it fits. He then takes Cinderella, along with her mice friends, Bruno and Major, to the castle, where Cinderella reunites with Prince Charming, Leaving the Tremaine's shocked and ruined. Finally, the Grand Duke appears at the film's finale, where he and the King jubilantly throw confetti to celebrate the wedding of Cinderella and Prince Charming, who both walk down the stairs and ride off in a carriage that takes the newlyweds on their honeymoon. Cinderella II: Dreams Come True In the sequel, the Grand Duke reappears as the King's right-hand man and assistant. The Duke helps Cinderella adapt to her new princess life which proves to be difficult. In the first story "Aim to Please" Cinderella must gain the ability to both act and dress as a princess, as well as set up the royal feast. The Duke originally offered to help Cinderella, but the job was instead given to his rival, Prudence, who resented the Duke. In the end, however, Cinderella throws an excellent ball, whilst the Duke develops a romantic relationship with Prudence. In the next story "Tall Tail", he and Cinderella have grown a close friendship and spend most of the current days working around the castle alongside its staff, side by side. In the end of the segment, the Duke and the King attend the Spring Festival, which culminates in both of them taking a ride on a mad elephant. Cinderella III: A Twist in Time In the third film, the Grand Duke reappears as a main character once again. Lady Tremaine steals the Fairy Godmother's magic wand and changes history so that Anastasia's foot fits the slipper. Like in the original film, the Duke arrives in Tremaine's manor with the Herald and seeks the girl who fits the slipper, and through Tremaine's magic, Anastasia is the one. He takes her, Lady Tremaine, and Drizella back to the castle to meet Charming, but like the prince himself, the Duke doesn't find Anastasia, or her family to be very admirable, and find there's obviously something astray going on, though the King does not, as he's able to see the beauty Anastasia truly holds within. Eventually, however, Lady Tremaine's villainy is revealed due to the efforts of Cinderella, Charming, Jaq, Gus, and the Grand Duke has the guards search every inch of the castle to have the three Tremaines arrested, though they manage to escape until their return at the climax of the film, where Prince Charming is able to reverse one of Lady Tremaine's curses, transforming her and Drizella into scullery maids in the castle and restoring peace in the kingdom. Other appearances In The Little Mermaid, the Grand Duke, and the King, were cameo guests of Prince Eric and Vanessa's wedding ceremony. They are briefly seen when Eric's dog, Max, rushes by them and bites Vanessa on the rear. In the television series House of Mouse, the Grand Duke makes numerous cameos, usually sitting with the King. In the episode "Ask Von Drake", the Duke was seen trying to fit the glass slipper onto Drizella until Ludwig Von Drake advised him to try it on Cinderella. An emoticon version of the Grand Duke also appeared in the Cinderella entry of the As Told by Emoji short series. Trivia * In the live-action remake, he is portrayed as a villain rather than a hero like in the original film and its sequels, secretly working with Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's stepmother. 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